Jimmy Carter told an audience yesterday that the current Arab crisis, “The most profound situation in the Middle East since I left office.”
Carter also said Mubarak must go. CBS News reported:

Mr. Carter, speaking at the Maranatha Baptist Church near Plains, Georgia, called the political turmoil in Egypt “the most profound situation in the Middle East since I left office,” and said his “guess is Mubarak will have to leave,” according to Georgia’s Ledger-Inquirer.

Mr. Carter, who served as president from 1977-1981, was a key player in brokering a peace deal between Egypt and Israel in 1978. Throughout negotiations for the agreement, which is still in place, Carter worked with Egypt’s president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Mubarak became president after Sadat’s assassination in 1981.

“I know Mubarak quite well,” Mr. Carter said on Sunday. “If Sadat had a message, he would send Mubarak.”

Mr. Carter said that Mubarak had, over the course of his 30 years as president, “become more politically corrupt,” and “perpetuated himself in office.”

It’s settled then… If Carter says Mubarak must go we know he’s likely the best option for Egypt.